1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to alarm and surveillance systems. More particularly, the present invention involves a method and apparatus for integrating an existing alarm system with an existing surveillance system such that functions unique to each system are combined in a complementary manner.
2. Description of Prior Art
Surveillance systems including digital video cameras are known in the art and are commonly used in buildings or other sites where security measures require visual observation by a person, automatic motion detection, or video recording. Unfortunately, surveillance systems suffer from various problems and limitations that render them cumbersome or ineffective in certain situations.
For example, while a surveillance system can notify a user of motion detected by a camera, such systems are configured to provide these notifications according to a pre-determined schedule beginning at a certain time of day, such as 7:00 p.m., and ending at another time of day, such as 5:00 a.m. Thus, if an employee or other authorized person desires to work late and remain in the building beyond the scheduled activation time, the surveillance system administrator must be contacted to delay or entirely prevent activation of the notification function. It will be appreciated that where authorized activities frequently occur in the secured area after the scheduled activation time, such measures can become extremely burdensome and may be forgotten, resulting in false notifications.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved surveillance system that overcomes these, and other, limitations of the prior art.